Bellator 76's Rad Martinez out to prove he's no 'charity case'

Even the most blackhearted MMA fan surely got a bit emotional when watching ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” feature on MMA fighter Rad Martinez this past year.

The top featherweight prospect balances a burgeoning fight career with the full-time care of his brain-damaged father.

But he’s determined to prove his entry in Bellator’s Season 7 featherweight tournament isn’t simply a matter of charity.

“There are some people out there that don’t believe that I deserve to have this shot in this tournament,” Martinez told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “There are some people out there that look at me like a charity case because of the story that was run on ESPN. There are a lot of people that think that Bellator gave me this chance just because I’m a nice guy. Well, I want to prove all of those people wrong. I want to show them that I don’t only deserve to be in this tournament, but that I have what it takes to become a world champion in the sport.”

Martinez signed with Bellator (and later won two non-tournament bouts) in 2011 after ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” told the fighter’s little-known story. Martinez, who took up MMA at the urging of his former Clarion University teammate and former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, made a promise to his dying grandmother that he’d take over as the primary caretaker for his father, who was seriously injured in an car accident in 1991, upon her death.

Despite his commitments at home, the Utah-based fighter is 11-1 in his past 12 fights, and the lone loss came to former UFC fighter Brian Cobb. With Bellator wins over Brian van Hoven and Douglas Frey, he punched his ticket to this weekend’s tournament, which earns the winner $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

Martinez’s brother and best friend, Levi, has stepped up in his absence as he chases his dream.

“I’m figuring out how to balance training for this tournament and taking care of my dad,” he said. “It’s going to be hardest on my brother, who’s coming in to help a lot while I get ready for these fights. He believes that I’m going to win the tournament, so he has no problem stepping up a little bit more. He just wants me to focus on the task at hand and to bring home that big check and title shot when I’m through with it.”

Martinez gets a stiff test in his opening-round matchup. After dominating the regional circuit in Brazil and winning his first 19 pro fights, Malegarie joined Bellator, where his only career losses have come to notables Daniel Straus and Marlon Sandro.

“This tournament is my coming-out party,” Martinez said. “I want to show the world how much I’ve improved, and I want to show that I deserve to be in this tournament. Once I beat Nazareno, people will see that I’m for real.

“He’s going to be the most dangerous opponent I’ve fought so far in my career just based on his amount of experience inside the cage. He’s from Brazil, and that tells you all you need to know. Those guys are tough. They’re born to fight.”

Despite winning half his fights via knockout, Martinez hears the same criticism all wrestlers do. However, he’s knocked out his past two opponents in the first round, and he hopes to continue that trend in Bellator’s eight-man field.

“I want to show people that I’m not just a wrestler and that I don’t have to take my fights down and grind them out, and I think I showed that against my last opponent here with Bellator,” he said. “So I’m going into this tournament to prove something to people and to prove something to myself. I need to show that I deserve to be here.”

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